Yasser Iqbal, 29, jailed for ‘hit and run’ that left 71 year-old man dead on the roadside in Bradford

Yasser Iqbal, 29,killed Kenneth Parratt, 71, year old man in a hit and run crash in Bradford.

Iqbal of Norman Grove, Idle, Bradford was driving his Peugeot Bipper van when Kenneth was crossing the road.

After hitting him with his car he did not stop to see if Kenneth was okay, instead he fled the scene.

Victims family have called this a ‘Unforgivable’ at Bradford Crown Court.

Iqbal was due to stand trial but he entered a early guilty plea to causing death by careless driving.

During the accident Iqbal was not insured on the vehicle.

CPS Ian Howard told Bradford Crown Court, Iqbal was seen by a witness doing a uturn in a cul-de-sac off idle road at 6pm in the evening.

Witness said, Iqbal was driving “between 35mph and 40mph” in front of her as he approached the scene of the crash, near the junction with Myers Lane.

CPS Howard told the courts, Iqbal was driving around 30mph, it would have taken 4.5 seconds to travel that distance and it would have taken the same time for Mr Kenneth to cross the road.

He further said Iqbal’s view was unobstructed,: “He was there to be seen the whole of the time the defendant travelled those 82 metres. If Mr Kenneth was in the carriageway throughout, the defendant has failed to see him.”

Mr Howard told that Iqbal told the officer’s he did not see Mr Kenneth until about ”two car lengths away”.

“There was a failure to keep a proper lookout for pedestrians in the road, that is the careless element. There was a failure to take evasive action.”

Bradford Crown Court heard, even though Iqbal tried to steer away at the last second, the victim was plunged on to the bonnet of the car then flung onto the road.

The crash left the cars bonnet damaged with its windscreen ‘entirely shattered’.

After the crash Iqbal drove off down Myers Lane for a couple of mile then abandoned the vehicle.

Mr Howard said: “He (Iqbal) didn’t do anything about the collision until 8.10 when he was in contact with police.”

Mr Kenneth was being treated on the road side of the crash by paramedics but was declared dead at 18.25. Heard Bradford Crown Court.

Kenneth’s family paid tribute to him as ‘loved and cherished father and grandad.’

Daughter of Kenneth her dad who had six grandchildren and four great grandchildren, as a ‘quiet, gentle man, who enjoyed life to the full.’ In a victim impact statement.

She further said, “I am well aware that anyone can have an accident. What I’m struggling with is how someone can hit a person and drive off. Not to go back and see how that person is, I find that unforgivable.”

Iqbal was banned for driving three time between 2007 and 2010.

Iqbal’s barrister, Stephen Wood, said: “The defendant’s pleas acknowledge that for at least some point of time, this man (Mr Parratt) was there to be seen. Tragically, he didn’t. This defendant knows that what he has done can never be rectified. He is sorry. When he realised the enormity of what he had done he came to his senses and handed himself in. The defendant will serve this sentence, others will endure it.”

The Recorder of Bradford, Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC, told Iqbal: “Due to your driving this gentleman lost his life, that is a fact. You killed him.

“The family have lost a figure central to them and their lives. Throughout his life, Mr Parratt behaved impeccably and contributed to his family and community.

“You knew Idle Road, you knew you had to be alert to pedestrians. Your sight line was such that had you seen Mr Parratt in time, you could have stopped. When somebody is killed in these circumstances there are consequences. This was not just an accident.”

Judge Durham Hall said ”the maximum sentence for the most serious offence of causing death by driving while uninsured was two years, I must use the guidelines and nothing else. The family understand the limits that I am under.”

With Iqbal’s early guilty plea he was sentenced to serve 15 months behind bars and once released he will be banned from driving for two years.